Our Instructors

Edson Ortiz - Head Instructor

Black Belt - 3 Dan

Edson is the founder and owner of Ortiz Martial Arts Academy. He was born in Brazil in 1971, he immigrated to Australia and began training BJJ in 1998. He was initially a Judoka (Judo Practitioner) before starting his journey with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In 2008 after seeing the devastating effects of bullying in the local area, it was Edson’s ambition to help the surrounding community through teaching self-defence for those in need, and guide individuals to improve their confidence, physical and mental health. He has been proud to teach and mentor students in martial arts for over 13 years.

Edson started the academy as a purple belt and practiced relentlessly to continue his own improvement. By 2010 Ortiz entered the BJJ competition scene with an academy team to great success, often defeating larger academy’s under black belt teachers. Edson is nationally recognized as a world class BJJ instructor with multiple NSW championship team titles, but his proudest achievement is the training and mentoring of his sons Thiago and Rafael who are the most successful BJJ junior athletes in Australia.

Thiago Ortiz - Instructor

Brown Belt

Thiago is the eldest son of Edson’s 3 children. He was born in 2004 and started training in 2009 under his father. From a young age Thiago has been teaching and assisting with classes whilst also training rigorously himself.

Thiago is a world class BJJ competitor with many Junior world titles under his belt, and has been ranked Number 1 in the junior age group in Australia for 5 years consecutively. He is also a certified instructor for BJJ and self-defence, as well as a great role model, inspiration and mentor for our younger students.